


Noise in an empty space

by Uzulover



Series: Behind the veil [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Break Up, Everyone Needs A Hug, Gen, Hurt Steve Rogers, Hurt Tony Stark, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 17:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18899590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uzulover/pseuds/Uzulover
Summary: Tony meets Steve a year after the events of what the public dubs the "Civil War".What happens when these two come face to face with each other?





	Noise in an empty space

**Author's Note:**

> See the end for notes

Tony knows that he's there.  
Can feel those eyes watching him from where he's standing, waiting for Tony to make the first move.  
He's cautious, body tense and poised, almost like he's ready to run.  
Tony almost snorts to himself but that would be too inviting and the last thing he wants to do, is allow this asshole to break the silence. 

He doesn't want to talk and the man who's trying but failing to make himself smaller, seems to pick up on this.  
His lower lip, reddened from constantly biting, quivers a little when brown meets blue.  
He hates how his hands start to shakes, hates how he has to shove them in the pockets of his dress pants, hates the pull in his stomach, quesy with anticipation and rattled with nerves.  
He hates the way he has to force a shiver down as that gaze glides over his face, mocking him with its perceptive concern. He looks away when those eyes, the harbringer of his now recurring nightmares, the ones which once upon a time promised paradise, graze over the wrinkles near his eyes, the new ones that have accumulated over the past year.  
If Tony is quiet enough, he can hear the ugly screech of metal. He jerks out of the memory and ignores the way those blue eyes widen with worry.  
He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.  
He can feel another migraine nipping at his skull.  
Tony catches movement in the corner of his eyes, and refuses to flinch as he steps out of the shadows.  
"It's been awhile" the man says, because he's not Steve to Tony anymore. Maybe, a dark voice hisses, he never was.  
"A few months, give or take" Tony replies and the man frowns, almost as if he is expecting something sharper from the smaller man.  
"A year" the man says when the shock wears off. Tony nods but doesn't say anything. "Saw your presentation" he adds when the silence becomes too much for him.  
Meanwhile Tony remains passive and almost at ease without the noise. "I liked it" he finishes with a boyish smile.  
In the years he's met the Captain, he's only seen that smile once at a time. Usually, those lips are pressed together in a firm, grim line that is used to display his irritation to the world. That jaw had always been clenched, jutting out with the need to pummel and destroy.  
The desire to fight had always been burning, the grief and loneliness pushed to the background where it couldn't reach anyone.  
Now, Tony muses, he can see more Steve than the Captain. He can almost see the man his father idolized so much. That, is what eases the bitterness away a little.  
Just a little.  
"I'm glad" Tony says and if it had been a year ago, he would have followd up with a snarky reply or a sassy remark but he just nods again.  
"H-how have you been?" The Captain asks and Tony hums. He's never once heard him falter, but now, seeing him dressed in a black pair of jeans, with a white t-shirt partially hidden by a plaid shirt and brown jacket, with a beard clinging to his face, his hair longer than he's ever seen, the ends almost curling to the base of his ears, he can certainly see why his Aunt Peg had fallen in love with this man.  
"Busy" Tony says and glances behind them, where he knows the others are hiding. The few people walking by ignore them, because what is so interesting about those two men standing in a random road in France? 

Tony, who had given his driver the night off, had decided to walk back to his hotel. A mistake he will never make again. He had been ambushed, by that sad pleading voice, the one that made him stop, even when F.R.I.D.A.Y begged him to leave.  
He feels the ugliness claw at his throat, urging him to sneer or deride the man before him, but he shoves it down at the way the man lowers his head, as if he's waiting for the words to cut at his supple skin and that makes Tony swallow. "You?" He asks and the man is surprised again when the bitterness doesn't come.  
"W-I've been busy too" the Captain says with a sad twist of the lips and a nervous laugh. Tony turns his entire body to the still chuckling man and the movement makes the Captain freeze, robbing him of all noise.  
Tony looks at him, really looks at him for the first time that night, and the man's hand begin to shake, his Adam's apple bobs as those eyes, the colour of that which gives life, the damp Earth that buries those in its grasp, the colour of his Ma's favourite sweater, the one that belonged to his Pa, that smelled of his faded cologne, the colour that stained the pages of his sketchpad and his fingers, those eyes that had showed him, exactly how deep the hurt could lie within a person's soul, the colour of a man who died under his fists every night.  
"Take care of yourself" Tony says, because he needs to leave. These few minutes are enough.  
He goes to walk away, when that voice pipes up again.  
"Will you ever call?" He asks, and Tony glances over his shoulder. "I... Tell me you'll call" he whispers, his eyes suddenly glittering in the dim lights. The Captain reaches out but stops before his fingers can touch his wrist. He pulls away, and twists his hands together in an effort to keep them busy.  
"Okay" Tony lies and the man knows it. The man sways but steadies his right foot. He manages to keep himself from falling.  
He can see blonde and silver shifting in the darkness when the other man rubs at his eyes.  
Pity feels heavy.  
That is what makes him move, which prompts him to gently place his hand over the man's chest, right over his heart. They both still at the contact, as that too thin of a hand, that built as much as it destroyed, remained on the hard planes of a chest that heaved at the warmth from that calloused palm. When Tony goes to remove his hand, the man places his both hands on his. Tony's weak body shudders and the man doesn't say anything. He only squeezes his hand a little before letting go. "You'll be okay" Tony says as he steps away. The man sniffs and nods, but they both know that's as much as a goodbye they'll get. Tony watches him once more before turning away, and then with wobbly legs walks off.  
"Give them hell, Shellhead" the man shouts when he crosses the road and without looking back, Tony raises a peace sign at him before disappearing around the corner. 

 

"Well that went better than expected" Sam says as the three of them join him. He's the only one to break the silence, watching as their leader wiped away the clinging wetness from his cheeks.  
No one says anything, not even Wanda who offers comfort the only way she knows, by patting his back.  
"You did good" Natasha says, after she waits until he's finished rubbing his eyes raw. Sam shoots her a look that makes her shrug.  
"He's lost weight again" Steve finally says and Wanda presses her forehead on his shoulder when he starts to shake. "I will speak to Vision" she murmers at him and Steve swallows, though he nods again. Even Sam joins in on comforting the man, by patting his shoulder.  
When a passerbyer stares at them too long, Natasha is the one who pulls them apart.  
"Time to go" she says and they follow after her, sliding back into the shadows as they came.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow so this is angsty but I couldn't help myself.


End file.
